


A New Friend

by Dolphintreasure



Category: jacksepticeye, youtube - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Zombies, Discrimination, Friendship, Gen, Homelessness, compassion - Freeform, human/zombie friendship, hunger
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-06
Updated: 2018-05-06
Packaged: 2019-05-02 19:44:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,104
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14552133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dolphintreasure/pseuds/Dolphintreasure
Summary: Jack makes a new friend.





	A New Friend

Jack's phone was about to die. He felt really stupid for not charging it when he had the chance. But then again it was his fault. He's been watching too many videos and checking social media. All in all, he wondered what life would've like without phones. He honestly couldn't imagine it. He relied on them too much. A lot of people did nowadays. With that in mind, Sean turned off his phone not wanting to waste anymore battery. He pocketed the phone before wiping at his nose.  
A sudden flash of light and a clap of thunder crackled above him causing him to raise his hoodie over his head. He was just out for a stroll not knowing rain would be coming. It sucked, too, because he was miles from home and buses had stopped running. Plus, he had wandered into an open park with no shelters to speak of; just a few paths, a few benches, and lots of grass and trees. He sighed to himself when he felt the ping of rain drops hit the back of his hand.

"Shit," he sighed.

He just kept walking as the pings turned into a light mist. Jack looked up at the black sky catching a few drops on his cheeks before he scoured a look across the park to see if there was anything he could take cover in.  
Luck would have it that just within a short walking distance that a flash of lightning overhead illuminated a stone bridge with a short tunnel underneath it. The rain picked up again coming down a little faster. Quickly, Jack ran straight for the cover. He decided to stay there just until the rain let up. He wasn't prepared to get drenched.

Just as the rain came down torrentially, Jack barely scraped underneath the bridge listening to the hollow echo of the pounding rain above him on the pathway. The rain was so dense that it looked like a heavy fog had rolled in.  
As a joke, Jack brought his hands to his mouth and mimicked the sound of an actual fog horn, slow, droll, and deep. He just wanted to amuse himself.

That is, until the sound repeated from behind him.

Jack whirled around to see where the noise had come from. The tunnel under this bridge was not long at all. He could make out the large opening just fine a little ways from him. He glanced as far as his eyes would let him see and came across nothing unusual. He appeared to be alone, but he knew what he heard. He knew he was not alone.

Bravely, Jack cupped his hands to his mouth again repeating the fog horn sound. He lowered his hands and waited.

There was silence in return. Maybe he did imagine it. Jack turned back to the heavy rain clambering outside the tunnel mouth until, although very faintly, he heard the sound echo behind him in the same pitch he released, again.  
Jack’s body immediately wanted to run, fight or flight as his heart rate increased and his blood ran cold. Then again, another part of him was curious.

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but this was Jack they would be dealing with. Whatever was in this tunnel with him had a lot ahead of them if they wanted to start a fight.

Jack pulled out his phone and turned it on. He reminded himself of the amount juice it had left, but it was his only source of light at the moment. A quick scroll of his flashlight over the pebbles in front of him and it'll be over.

Jack showed the light on the ground ahead of him as far as it could go. It startled Jack when the beam of light hit a foot and a leg retreating into a small door way in the tunnel. Jack held his breath as he proceeded forward wanting to know who it was.  
Slowly Jack approached the small door way and peaked into it. All he saw was darkness and a flash of lightning above didn't help much. Jack raised his dying phone focusing the light beam into the void and gasped at what he saw.  
It was a fellow about his height crouched on the ground hiding its head in his hands making small whimpering and crunching sounds.

"H-hello?" Jack said stupidly.

The being ceased its crunching sounds and turned towards the man staring straight into the light. Jack gasped as he was met with dull clouded eyes, grey flesh, and what looked to be dry bits of blood covering the man's scaly chin. The man was moving his jaw carefully up and down while making sporadic breathing noises as if he was choking. Jack just stared at him mesmerized by the state he was in. The man wore very tattered clothes: a dingy black striped shirt, and some dark jeans. He was barefoot, apparently, when Jacks eyes traveled over his figure.

In his hands, Jack noticed a spongy looking thing that had a long tail on it. It was a large dead rat with entrails hanging from the man's fingers. Jacks heart dropped in pity as he realized that this man was dead. He was just hungry and probably didn't have a family to go home to. Hell, he probably didn't even have a home, but Jack didn’t want to judge just yet. It was no secret, though, that Most Deadies didn't. That’s what the living called them, anyway. It was more of a derogatory term. Once the deed was done, and they roamed after a funeral, families rejected them letting them wander in the wild. Some families were kind, but it was a rarity. Jack had never actually met a dead person before. Not until now, at least! When his own family memebers passed, everyone made sure that they wouldn’t come back. He never really understood why families let it happen to begin with. Why did they allow it? Why not keep them in the grave so they can be at peace once and for all? Poor Jack has heard tales of them being beaten mercilessly. It appeared on the news every so often and it hurt Jack to his core. He never heard of a Dead attacking a Living. And this poor chap was hiding under a bridge, in a park, chewing on a rat. It’s probably been awhile since he’s had a real meal.  
Jack suddenly felt embarrassed realizing he'd been staring this whole time without introducing himself.

"Hello," Jack repeated softly hoping the Dead would answer him.

"...hello..." the Dead wheezed back.

“Was that you mimicking me?” Jack inquired softly not trying to sound angry or anything.

That caused the man to stiffen like a scolded child as he looked down back at the rat in his hands. He dropped it onto the rocks and sat on the ground drawing his knees to his chest. Jack knelt down and sat with him. He didn’t want to seem untrustworthy. He wanted to show that he was a friendly man. The dead man nodded his head as an answer.

“…sorry…” he said with a deep gravelly voice.

"No, no need to be sorry. You didn’t do anything wrong. Are you alone?"

The Dead hesitated, but nodded his head again not looking Jack in the eye. In fact, the poor man looked like he was about to cry, like he was afraid of him. Jack sighed and furrowed his brows together at the quiet confession. His heart filled with a pang of hurt noticing the reserved behavior. Jack didn’t want to pry, but he wanted to show that he wasn’t going to hurt him.

"Oh. Well, my name is Jack. Do you have a name?" he asked gently trying to show his more good nature hoping the man would open up.

The Dead looked up at him cocking his head like he didn’t expect to be asked a question. Carefully, he lifted his head chancing a look at Jack as he replied, "Robbie."

"Cool ass name, dude. It's nice to meet you," Jack smiled at him as he saw the man’s face. Jack sighed internally thankful that he came across as nonthreatening. This poor man was scared for his life and Jack felt the urge to help in any way he could. He never met a Dead, before, but he believed in basic human decency to be compassionate.

Robbie nodded at him and actually smirked at him opening up a little bit to Jack.

Jack smiled back at him. "Hey, uh, if you're still hungry, I can take you some where to eat. You like steak?"

Robbie smiled wider at him like a child and nodded vigorously. Jacks heart was going wild in his chest at the delight he saw in the Robbie’s eyes.

"After rain..." Robbie said in a gravel voice.

"Of course. Don't wanna get soaked," Jack giggled as he offered a hand to help Robbie up. Robbie hesitated before taking it and helped Jack heave him off the ground carefully. Jack didn't want to risk a limb falling off of he accidentally pulled to hard. "C’mon. Let's go get some fresh air." The pair headed out into the open under the bridge together with Jack still holding the Robbie’s hand as if the creature was going to get lost. Robbie shuffled forward along with him smiling to himself.

They reached the path under the bridge and Jack took a big breath to clear his lungs of the musty smell of the water. He let go of Robbie's hand and stretched out. Robbie watched in some weird fascination before mimicking the movement. Jack turned to him and chuckled as he heard some pops in his shoulders. Robbie dropped his arms and giggled too.

The rain had finally stopped and Jack led both of them back out into the dark park. He fished his phone out of his pocket pulling up the nearest steak place.

"That looks good. Ready to go?" Jack asked the man next to him. Robbie nodded again and they started walking to exit the park.  
*****  
The streets were pretty quiet this time of night as Jack and Robbie made their way down the street. They met gazes of some passerby some of them greeting them, or just stepping around them and some just glaring at his new friend like an unwanted cockroach. Jack frowned at the people who weren’t keen on having the Dead around. Granted this was his first time meeting a Dead in person, but he hated the negativity that followed them. Jack just ignored those who scowled at them as they walked by. Jack wanted to take the high road.

He stopped in his tracks letting Robbie catch up to him. Robbie didn't see that he had stopped and bumped into his back with a grunt. Jack just giggled at Robbie's embarrassed face.

"Sorry..."Robbie murmured.

"It's fine, dude. No worries. Ah look! There it is. I don't know about you, but I'm starving," Jack said as he pointed at the restaurant.

They came up to the door as Robbie curiously looked into the windows. He saw people eating, talking, laughing, and fully alive. It had been a long time since he’d been in a restaurant. It looked like a nice place. Dim lighting for atmosphere, big heaping helpings of food mainly containing meat, and it smelled really good. But, there was one thing he didn’t see: dead people. Everyone inside was alive. He started getting anxious as they approached the door.

"Bad news, buddy," Robbie heard Jack say. "'Deads' not allowed.’ Fucking hell, man." Robbie frowned in disappointment as he read the sign, too. His stomach growled as he looked in the window again watching meat disappear into people's mouths. "It's okay, man. We'll find a different place to eat. C’mon."

Jack took Robbie's hand again and pulled him away from the door nearly avoiding two patrons scowling at him in disgust as they walked into the restaurant. Robbie kept his cool, but he badly wanted to tear their faces off.

After a bit of wandering and some phone googling, Jack found a bar that allowed Deads inside. They even had steaks on their menus! Jack kissed his phone thanking the google gods at Apple and Robbie busted into a joyful murmur as Jack led him in the direction of this new place.

They arrived outside a hole in the wall door all black and with a single neon sign pointing to the alleyway around the corner.

"Ohhh! Spooky, huh Robbie. Looks like we're going on an adventure!" Jack laughed as he pulled Robbie by the hand carefully stepping them both down into the alleyway. They came upon a door where they heard music and stepped inside.  
The first thing they saw was a hostess stand and the bar was open with darkened themes all around. It was a horror themed bar splaying different cut outs and life sized figures of horror icons like Freddy Kruger, Leather Face, PinHead, and so many more. Jack was giddy in glee.

"This is awesome! What do you think, Robbie?"

"...yes!" He replied with a nod.

"Hey guys!" A friendly female sounding voice greeted them. "Welcome to Horror House! Will it just be two tonight?"

"Yes, thank you," Jack replied with a smile a growl of his stomach. Robbie looked around at the life sized figures completely fascinated by the macabre décor.

"And where would you gentlemen like to sit? Does he get spooked easily?" She asked politely, referring to Robbie.

"Oh, uh. I don't know, actually. We just met tonight. I don't know if he has a preference, or not," Jack replied sheepishly.

"I see. Sir? Are you okay to sit with other people, or would you like a quieter place?" She asked Robbie.

"...quiet, pl-please..." he replied as he looked around. Jack just realized they were still holding hands. He didn't mind.

"Follow me, please!" She smiled grabbing two menus for them.

They followed the nice lady through a maze of tables and booths all which were occupied by both living and dead people. Jack noticed some of the dead were chowing down on large chunks of bloody meat dripping it onto their shirts. They passed a couple holding hands on the table smiling at one another; one alive, one dead. Jack smiled and thought it was adorable.

He never released Robbie's hand until they arrived in a booth that was towards the back of the bar behind some curtains to muffle the music and bar noises of people laughing, talking, and getting drunk. They sat opposite of each other and the lady gave them their menus.

"There ya go, darlings. I'll send for your server," she said with a smile and then left the pair alone.

"Thank you!" Jack called to her before opening his menu. Robbie grabbed his studying the food, he didn't realize he was beginning to drool until it dropped onto the plastic. He put his fingers to his mouth blushing horribly hoping his new friend didn't see that.

"...shit..."he murmured loudly.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked with genuine concern feeling bad that he was looking down.

"...need...napkin..."

"Oh, uh, here," Jack said as he reached behind the salt shaker grabbing them. "Haha, you must really be hungry. Rats aren’t very filling...not that I've had them or anything." Jack started laughing at his own joke and Robbie joined in as he wiped his mouth clean. He smudged the dry rat blood away from his mouth and chin cleaning out his beard and mustache while he was at it.

"...chewy...too...not enough...meat," Robbie joked back with his new friend.

"I figured as much. It must be hard hunting them in the wild like that. They're so fast! Again, not that I would know, haha."

Robbie giggled again at the charming fellow. "...they...are...but I'm...faster."

Jack laughed again and just then their server approached. Jack ordered a glass of wine while Robbie ordered a Bloody Mary. This was a special Bloody Mary, too. Made with real pigs blood; no tomato juice in it.

They sat for a while chatting about different things like their hobbies, jobs, and interests. They laughed and joked like normal live people. Jack so relaxed around the charming young Dead he was angry with himself for not getting to know any at all until now. They lived normal lives as best they could in death. They still retained speech, cognitive thinking, motor function, and memories of when they were actually alive. Robbie in particular loved playing video games when he was alive. Jack loves video games, too. He even worked for a video game development company. Robbie also went to the local library to read, or study on the computer until he was kicked, or literally, pushed out. That hurt Jack to hear about Robbie’s abuse. He was such a cool guy. Sure, he was dead, but that didn’t mean his feelings didn’t exist. He’s such a sweet person. A bit shy, but very comfortable, like he would never hurt a fly. Jack was so glad he was a more open minded person, now. The old him would've shunned this guy like every other stuck up living asshole. But he really enjoyed his company. And Robbie was enjoying his.

All throughout, they had ordered their food. Robbie was eating a raw steak right off a cow’s leg while Jack chowed down on some fat tender barbeque ribs. Both men were messy eaters, but each paid no mind as they enjoyed. Robbie savored what tastes he could get not knowing when he'd ever have a chance like this, again. Truth be told, he was scared of Jack at first thinking he would just hurt him like everyone else had, but now he was so grateful. He made a new friend and he was so happy. He wished he could return the favor, but he didn't know how.

It was towards the end of their meals and both of their bellies were bulging in delight stuffed to the gills with delicious food, drink, and company.

"Whoa man. Good thing we're walking," Jack chuckled as he rubbed his stomach. "I'm stuffed. I'm gonna fall asleep here in a second. Didn't realize how late it was."

Robbie's heart sank. He'd been enjoying himself so much he'd forgotten about the time. This was where they'd part ways to their respectful homes and possibly never see each other again, or every so often. And there were two problems with this: one, Robbie didn't want this night to end and two...he didn't have a home of his own. During their dinner chat, Robbie did mention not having a job. He explained that it was difficult for Deads to find jobs. He didn’t have the courage to tell Jack he lived under that bridge in the park. 

"...yeah...um...Jack?" He asked timidly.

"Yeah?"

“…are we…friends?” Robbie asked as he tilted his up to look at Jack.

“Of course, Robbie. We’re friends,” Jack replied with a smile and a nod of his head.

"...can I...stay...with you?"

"What you mean like, at my house?"

"...yeah...I don't...have...a home..."

Jack took on a serious face not realizing Robbie was homeless. He felt so dumb for not putting two and two together. No job, yeah he knew about, but that would usually mean… "Oh Robbie...do you..live under that bridge?"

Robbie looked down ashamed of himself. He almost felt sorry for telling Jack he was technically homeless. He nodded nonetheless before replying, "If...I can't... it's okay...I...understand."

"No, no, no I didn't mean it like that. I was just surprised is all. But yeah. Yeah. If you need a place to stay for a couple days, I'd be happy to have you."

Robbie smiled at him. "Are you...sure? I don't want...to...impose..."

"Nonsense! You deserve to have a fresh bed to sleep on, food in your belly, and a fresh shower. You don’t deserve anything that I don’t. I hate to think you under that bridge by yourself. We’ll take it one day at a time, but I can help you find a job, if you'd like. I can talk to my boss and see what she says. She's been looking to hire a new game tester."

"You...would.. do that...for me?" Robbie sat up and leaned forward smiling wide at Jack.

"Sure. I like you, Robbie. You deserve to be happy. You deserve better than living in a gutter eating rats. Thank you, though, for controlling their population, haha!"

Robbie laughed with him too before staring into Jack’s eyes. It seemed like forever since he has experienced compassion from a Living that his heart warmed in his chest. Not even his own family wanted him back now that he was dead. His heart swelled and he really wished it could beat, but it didn’t. That didn’t stop Robbie from feeling so happy to be with Jack. Jack just smiled back at him.

"I'm ready to go."

"...same."  
****  
As soon as they entered Jack’s home, Jack led Robbie straight to his guest room. Robbie followed gingerly looking around the beautiful home. He trekked closely behind the young man not wanting to seem intrusive.

“Okay, I’ll have you sleep in here,” Jack told him as they stepped into the room.

Robbie looked at the decently sized room looking at the soft blankets on the bed. There was only a single side table, a dresser of drawers, a small closet, and a small table lamp for light. Jack rubbed the back of his neck as Robbie stepped into the room slowly approaching the bed.

“I know it’s not much, but at least you’ll be comfortable tonight. Hate to think of you sleeping on the ground,” Jack said. He stopped moving as he just watched Robbie slowly reach a hand out placing it on the pillows and top of the blanket.  
Robbie smoothed his fingers over the bedding taking care to feel every fabric fiber glide across his palm giving him a strange blissful sensation. It had been so long since he’s slept in a proper bed that his aching body was so thankful just to even touch a blanket. If he could cry, he would. Robbie just settled for a smile instead as he removed his hand.

Jack watched fascinated by the simple touch like the bed was made of gold. Jack scolded himself internally realizing that Robbie was appreciating something that was considered a luxury to him while it was salvation for the sweet Dead.

“…soft…” Robbie said

“Yeah, it is. Um, if-if you need the bathroom, it’s down the hallway and feel free to take a shower. I don’t mind. I’m gonna head to bed, but before I do, do you need anything?” Jack asked as he walked up beside the other man.

Robbie hesitated before he looked up at Jack. He smiled bigger as they locked eyes, suddenly overcome with emotion. Robbie raised his arms and wrapped Jack in a gentle hug resting his cheek on the man’s shoulder. Jack froze for a minute before returning the gesture carefully.

“Thank you, Jack,” Robbie whispered. “You…have no idea…how grateful..I am…”

“Hey, no problem, man. You’re welcome,” Jack said as he parted them both from the hug. “Get some good sleep. You can start fresh tomorrow. Night, buddy.” Jack walked away.

“Night, Jack.”

Jack shut the door behind him and made for his own room not wanting Robbie to hear him sob, or wipe at his eyes.  
Once he was safe inside his own room, he sighed out loud before changing into his night clothes. Once he brushed his teeth, he stepped back into the room and froze before he got into bed. What should have been a normal routine now seemed like a new interest. This thing in his life that made him comfortable night after night was suddenly the greatest thing he had. Thanks to Robbie and his genuine appreciation for the smaller things in life, Jack reached out his own hand smoothing it over the silky fabric taking in every sensation that he could. He’d been taking this whole thing for granted and he was in turn grateful for Robbie to make him realize his own luxury and how much he should really appreciate his own life.  
Jack slipped into bed thankful for his new friend. Tonight was the beginning of a fresh tomorrow for both of them.


End file.
